The Fun Never Ends... :)

It is hard to remember that I am in school here :-D There are these restaurants/ pubs called surf clubs here everywhere. They are a members only place so you have to be with someone that lives within 15 K of the establishment and they are pretty awesome. Really low key atmosphere, you order from the bar and then they bring you your food but much nicer than a fast food joint. Tellu, Todd, one of his friends from France that he met in a pub and I went to the surf club called Northcliff last night for dinner. It sits right on the water and I am sure the view during the day is astounding. Even though the view is worth a million bucks the menu does not reflect that. It is decently priced and the food is excellent. After a good time there we picked up another friend and some of my friends from Canada joined us at a pool hall in Mermaid Beach. The next 3 hours flew by and I learned some very interesting and new things about pool. For one, it is often called Snooker as reflected by the name of the joint: Snooker World. The tables were much bigger and the balls much smaller and we played by “Australian rules” which are really the “American rules” I have always played by: only ball you have to call the pocket for is the 8 ball. Apparently in the real American/ Canadian version you are supposed to call the pocket for each ball. Well after 3 hours I only sunk 2 balls which is startlingly low for me (not that I am half way decent) but I think snooker is on my list of things to get better at while I am here.

On my way to uni this morning I appropriately learned a little more about the city in which I am now living (Surfers Paradise) from the book that I mentioned earlier (In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson). Apparently, up until 1933 it was called Elston, Queensland until the town elders decided to change the name in order to attract more visitors. The only hotel in the area was called Surfer’s Paradise (as surfing had just become popular here) and the name stuck. This city stayed fairly undeveloped until 1962 when the first high rise was constructed. By 1970 a construction frenzy began and the city has never been the same since. I can’t imagine what the place looked like before the development boom, definitely a sight I wished I could have seen (looks like a google image project in the works… :) . Well I am off to my Screen Business class that I am extremely excited about. It is pretty much the reason I decided to go here (outside of Jan’s persuading) so I hope it lives up to its potential!